The 121st Guards Rifle Division was formed on September 23, 1943, based on the first formation of the 342nd Rifle Division, in the 80th Rifle Corps of 3rd Army. During 1943 it shared a similar combat path to that of the 120th Guards Rifle Division, which was formed in the same Army about a week later. On November 26 it was given credit for its role in the liberation of Gomel and won that city's name as an honorific. It was soon reassigned to 13th Army and would serve under that command for the rest of the war. In 1944 the division helped form the bridgehead over the Vistula at Sandomir, and in January, 1945, joined in the breakout from this bridgehead and the subsequent advance through Poland and into Germany, earning its final honor for the capture of Wittenberg. The 121st Guards ended the war in western Czechoslovakia with a very impressive combat record.

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The 342nd Rifle Division was raised to Guards status as the 121st Guards on September 23, 1943, based on its successful actions and mass heroism during Operation Kutuzov, the offensive that eliminated the German-held salient around Oryol. Its order of battle was as follows:

As of October 1, the 121st Guards was in 80th Rifle Corps of 3rd Army, which had recently been reassigned to Central Front from Bryansk Front. During the Gomel-Rechitsa Offensive, which began on September 30, the division was tasked, along with 120th Guards and 269th Rifle Divisions, with seizing a bridgehead over the Sozh River to divert German attention and reserves from the fighting in the Gomel region. The attack began at dawn on October 12 and succeeded in capturing small bridgeheads 1–2 km deep at Kostiukovka, Salabuty and Studenets, all south of the city of Propoisk. Although German counterattacks over the next few days prevented the attackers from enlarging their bridgeheads, the attack also prevented German 9th Army from sending reinforcements to 2nd Army to the south.[3]

The responsibility for the final liberation of Gomel was assigned to 11th and 48th Armies. The 11th struck on November 12 but encountered extremely stiff resistance. The fight for the city was long and bloody, but Soviet advances on the flanks made the German position untenable. Meanwhile, 121st Guards was en route from 3rd to 13th Army and was drawn in to the fighting for the city.[4] Gomel was finally liberated on November 26, and the 121st Guards was one of several units recognized with the city's name as an honorific:

"GOMEL" - ...121st Guards Rifle Division (Major General Chervonii, Logvin Danilovich)... the troops who participated in the liberation of Gomel, by the order of the Supreme High Command of 26 November 1943, and a commendation in Moscow, are given a salute of 20 artillery salvos from 224 guns.[5]

In December the division would part ways from its "sister" 120th Guards by being transferred to 13th Army, which was now in 1st Ukrainian Front. It would remain under those commands for the duration, to begin with in 76th Rifle Corps.[6] In mid-1944 the division took part in the Lvov-Sandomir Operation, and in January, 1945, it helped make the breakthrough that unleashed the 3rd Guards and 4th Tank Armies to race across Poland and into Germany from the Sandomir bridgehead. At the very end of the war the 121st Guards took part in the Battle of Berlin on the southern fringes, then struck southwards in the Prague operation, ending the war in western Czechoslovakia, north of Pilsen, in the 27th Rifle Corps of 13th Army.[7]

1.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states

2.
Red Army
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The Workers and Peasants Red Army was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and after 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution, the Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. The Red Army is credited as being the land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II. During operations on the Eastern Front, it fought 75%–80% of the German land forces deployed in the war, inflicting the vast majority of all German losses and ultimately capturing the German capital. In September 1917, Vladimir Lenin wrote, There is only one way to prevent the restoration of the police, at the time, the Imperial Russian Army had started to collapse. The Tsarist general Nikolay Dukhonin estimated that there had been 2 million deserters,1.8 million dead,5 million wounded and 2 million prisoners and he estimated the remaining troops as numbering 10 million. Therefore, the Council of Peoples Commissars decided to form the Red Army on 28 January 1918 and they envisioned a body formed from the class-conscious and best elements of the working classes. All citizens of the Russian republic aged 18 or older were eligible, in the event of an entire unit wanting to join the Red Army, a collective guarantee and the affirmative vote of all its members would be necessary. Because the Red Army was composed mainly of peasants, the families of those who served were guaranteed rations, some peasants who remained at home yearned to join the Army, men, along with some women, flooded the recruitment centres. If they were turned away they would collect scrap metal and prepare care-packages, in some cases the money they earned would go towards tanks for the Army. Nikolai Krylenko was the supreme commander-in-chief, with Aleksandr Myasnikyan as deputy, Nikolai Podvoisky became the commissar for war, Pavel Dybenko, commissar for the fleet. Proshyan, Samoisky, Steinberg were also specified as peoples commissars as well as Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich from the Bureau of Commissars, at a joint meeting of Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, held on 22 February 1918, Krylenko remarked, We have no army. The Red Guard units are brushed aside like flies and we have no power to stay the enemy, only an immediate signing of the peace treaty will save us from destruction. This provoked the insurrection of General Alexey Maximovich Kaledins Volunteer Army in the River Don region, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk aggravated Russian internal politics. The situation encouraged direct Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, a series of engagements resulted, involving, amongst others, the Czechoslovak Legion, the Polish 5th Rifle Division, and the pro-Bolshevik Red Latvian Riflemen. The Whites defeated the Red Army on each front, Leon Trotsky reformed and counterattacked, the Red Army repelled Admiral Kolchaks army in June, and the armies of General Denikin and General Yudenich in October. By mid-November the White armies were all almost completely exhausted, in January 1920, Budennys First Cavalry Army entered Rostov-on-Don. 1919 to 1923 At the wars start, the Red Army consisted of 299 infantry regiments, Civil war intensified after Lenin dissolved the Russian Constituent Assembly and the Soviet government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, removing Russia from the Great War

3.
Battle of Smolensk (1943)
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The second Battle of Smolensk was a Soviet strategic offensive operation conducted by the Red Army as part of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1943. Its goal was to clear the German presence from the Smolensk and Bryansk regions, Smolensk had been under German occupation since the first Battle of Smolensk in 1941. Despite an impressive German defense, the Red Army was able to stage several breakthroughs, liberating several major cities, including Smolensk, as a result of this operation, the Red Army was able to start planning for the liberation of Belarus. Although playing a military role in its own right, the Smolensk Operation was also important for its effect on the Battle of the Dnieper. In the course of the operation, the Red Army also definitively drove back German forces from the Smolensk land bridge, losses were considerable and the whole army was less effective than before, as many of its experienced soldiers had fallen during the previous two years of fighting. This left the German army capable of reacting to Soviet moves. The Battle of the Dnieper was to achieve the liberation of Ukraine, both operations were a part of the same strategic offensive plan, aiming to recover as much Soviet territory from German control as possible. the Donbass, the left-bank Ukraine operation. The territory on which the offensive was to be staged was a hilly plain covered with ravines and possessing significant areas of swamps. Its most important hills reached heights over 270 m, allowing for improved artillery defense, in 1943, the area was for the most part covered with pine and mixed forests and thick bushes. Numerous rivers also passed through the area, the most important of them being the Donets Basin, Western Dvina, Dnieper, Desna, Volost, Dnieper is by far the largest of them and strategically most important. Also the surrounding wide, swamp-like areas proved difficult to cross, moreover, like many south-flowing rivers in Europe, the Dniepers western bank, which was held by German troops, was higher and steeper than the eastern. There were very few bridges or ferries. For the Soviet troops, the offensive was complicated by a lack of transport in the area in which the offensive was to be staged. The road network was not well developed and paved roads were rare, after rainfall, which was quite common during the Russian summer, most of them were turned into mud, greatly slowing down any advance of mechanized troops, and raising logistical issues as well. The only major railroad axis available for Soviet troops was the Rzhev-Vyazma-Kirov line, the Wehrmacht controlled a much wider network of roads and railroads, centered on Smolensk and Roslavl. These two cities were important logistical centers, allowing supply and reinforcements for German troops. By far the most important railroads for German troops were the Smolensk-Bryansk axis, in July 1943 the Soviet front line on this part of the Eastern Front was a concave with a re-entrant around Orel. The re-entrant exposed the Wehrmacht to flank attacks from the north but the offensive the main attack carried out Kalinin, the Kalinin Front would have for the operation the 4th Shock Army, 39th Army, 43rd Army, 3rd Air Army, 31st Army

4.
Kamenets-Podolsky pocket
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The Battle of the Kamianets-Podilskyi pocket was a Soviet effort to surround and destroy the Wehrmachts 1st Panzer Army of Army Group South. The envelopment occurred in March 1944 on the Eastern Front during the Second World War, the Red Army successfully created the pocket, trapping some 200,000 German soldiers inside. Under the command of General Hans-Valentin Hube and with the direction of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein and this breakout is sometimes referred to as Hubes Pocket. In February 1944, the 1st Panzer Army—commanded by Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube—consisted of four Corps, together with attached Army units the 1st Panzer Army included over 200,000 troops and was the most powerful formation of Field Marshal Erich von Mansteins Army Group South. Zhukov planned a multi-Front offensive, involving his own 1st and Marshal Ivan Konevs 2nd Ukrainian Front, the operations were to take place on the extreme north and south of the Army Group Souths front. The Soviet offensives began in early March, with Zhukov taking personal command of Vatutins 1st Ukrainian front, the Red Armys massive concentration in troops and material forced Hube to withdraw his northern flank to south-west until it reached the Dniester river. Despite constant Red Army attacks, this position held until late March, the force reached the Dniester and continued toward Chernivtsi. Behind them followed infantry and antitank units which began establishing defensive positions along the path of the advance behind the German positions, Manstein requested that the position be withdrawn to avoid encirclement, but Hitler refused, persisting with his no retreat orders. Hube ordered all non-combat personnel out of the salient along the last remaining open roadway, seeing this movement to the south Zhukov concluded that Hube was in full retreat. In a matter of days, Zhukov and Konevs forces had crossed the Dniester and were in position to complete the encirclement, on 25 March, the last line of communications corridor out of Hubes bridgehead located on the northern bank of the Dniester was severed at Khotyn. The entire 1st Panzer Army was now encircled in a centered around the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi. While the encircled forces had food and ammunition enough to them for over two weeks, the vehicles were extremely low on fuel. Hube had ordered all service units south of the Dniester to withdraw away from the main Red Army penetration which were taking place to the south on the 2nd Ukrainian Fronts 40th Army front, Zhukov believed Hube would attempt to breakout to the south. To prevent this, he stripped units from the encircling forces, Hube now ordered the pocket to be reduced in size, shortening the positions lines to increase defence density. As the 1st Ukrainian Front prepared to complete the encirclement Hube requested the authorization to use mobile defence tactics, however, once the encirclement was complete, the situation changed. Manstein had been arguing with Hitler for the trapped Army to be allowed to attempt a breakout, with the loss of the entire Panzer army in the balance, Hitler finally gave in and ordered Hube to attempt a breakout. Though supplies were still being brought in, they were insufficient to maintain the Armys fighting strength, Zhukov sent a terse ultimatum, Surrender, or every German soldier in the pocket would be shot. Moving west would mean fighting through the Soviet armoured forces that created the breach, Hube preferred to head south, over the Dniester

5.
Battle of Berlin
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The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II. Following the Vistula–Oder Offensive of January–February 1945, the Red Army had temporarily halted on a line 60 km east of Berlin, on 9 March, Germany established its defence plan for the city with Operation Clausewitz. The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were made on 20 March, under the newly appointed commander of Army Group Vistula, General Gotthard Heinrici. When the Soviet offensive resumed on 16 April, two Soviet fronts attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Red Army encircled the city after successful battles of the Seelow Heights, on 23 April General Helmuth Weidling assumed command of the forces within Berlin. The garrison consisted of several depleted and disorganized Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, along with poorly trained Volkssturm, over the course of the next week, the Red Army gradually took the entire city. Before the battle was over, Hitler and a number of his followers committed suicide. Starting on 12 January 1945, the Red Army began the Vistula–Oder Offensive across the Narew River, and, from Warsaw, an operation on a broad front. On the fourth day, the Red Army broke out and started moving west, up to 30 to 40 km per day, taking East Prussia, Danzig, and Poznań, drawing up on a line 60 km east of Berlin along the Oder River. The newly created Army Group Vistula, under the command of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, attempted a counter-attack, the Red Army then drove on to Pomerania, clearing the right bank of the Oder River, thereby reaching into Silesia. In the south the Siege of Budapest raged, three German attempts to relieve the encircled Hungarian capital city failed, and Budapest fell to the Soviets on 13 February. Adolf Hitler insisted on a counter-attack to recapture the Drau-Danube triangle, the goal was to secure the oil region of Nagykanizsa and regain the Danube River for future operations, but the depleted German forces had been given an impossible task. By 16 March, the German Lake Balaton Offensive had failed, on 30 March, the Soviets entered Austria, and in the Vienna Offensive they captured Vienna on 13 April. Between June and September 1944, the Wehrmacht had lost more than a million men, and it lacked the fuel and armaments needed to operate effectively. On 12 April 1945, Hitler, who had decided to remain in the city against the wishes of his advisers. No plans were made by the Western Allies to seize the city by a ground operation, the major Western Allied contribution to the battle was the bombing of Berlin during 1945. The Soviet offensive into central Germany, what later became East Germany, had two objectives, but the overriding objective was to capture Berlin. The two goals were complementary because possession of the zone could not be won quickly unless Berlin were taken, another consideration was that Berlin itself held useful post-war strategic assets, including Adolf Hitler and the German atomic bomb programme

6.
Prague Offensive
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The Prague Offensive was the last major Soviet operation of World War II in Europe. The offensive, and the battle for Prague, was fought on the Eastern Front from 6 May to 11 May 1945 and this battle for the city is particularly noteworthy in that it ended after the Third Reich capitulated on 8 May 1945. This battle is notable in that it was fought concurrently with the Prague Uprising. The city of Prague was ultimately liberated by the USSR during the Prague Offensive, all of the German troops of Army Group Centre and many of Army Group Ostmark were killed or captured, or fell into the hands of the Allies after the capitulation. The capitulation of Army Group Centre was nine days after the fall of Berlin, by the beginning of May 1945, Germany had been decisively defeated by the coalition of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. Germanys capital, Berlin, was on the verge of capitulation in the face of a massive Soviet attack and the great bulk of Germany had been conquered. However, in southeastern Germany, parts of Austria and Czechoslovakia, there were large bodies of active German troops of Army Group Centre. On 2 May 1945, general Alfred Jodl ordered the German forces to avoid being captured by Russia, the German remnant forces continued to resist the USSR 4th and 1st Ukrainian Fronts while only accepted armistice in the Western Front. And while the German command body gradually lost its control over its armed forces, SS and Gestapo forces were still working at its highest intensity. SS officers and comannders were increasingly affiliated in command and control of German armed forces, and in contrast to the declining quality of Nazi units in the last day of the war, SS corps still maintained their remarkably high fighting capability. The Nazi regime considered Czechoslovakia and neighboring areas as their last bastion in the case Berlin fell. Therefore, in 1945 they concentrated many powerful military units in the region, including elements of 6th SS Panzer Army, 1st and 4th Panzer Armies, and 7th, 8th and 17th Combined Armies. Alfred Jodl has ordered the local Nazi regime to prepare numerous fortified buildings which could serve as offices for the new Nazi government and German High Command. From 30 April to 1 May 1945, SS Senior Group Leader, Frank was also a general of the Waffen SS. The situation in Prague was unstable, Frank knew that several Soviet Army fronts were advancing towards Prague. More immediately, he was faced with a city population ready to be liberated, at the same time, two divisions of the Russian Liberation Army arrived in the vicinity of Prague. The KONR 1st Division encamped north of the city while the KONR 2nd Division took up positions south of the city, ostensibly allied with the Germans, the allegiance of the KONR forces would prove to vary depending on the situation they faced. On the Allied side, both Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin saw Prague as a significant prize, the seizure of which could influence the political makeup of postwar Czechoslovakia

7.
Order of Suvorov
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The Order of Suvorov is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Field Marshal Count Alexander Suvorov. The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29,1942 by decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR and it was created to reward senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations. The Order of Suvorov was divided three different classes, 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class. Georgi Zhukov became the first recipient of the Order of Suvorov 1st class on January 28,1943, the Order 1st class was awarded to army commanders for exceptional leadership of combat operations. The Order 2nd class was awarded to corps, division, the Order 3rd class was awarded to regimental commanders, their chiefs of staff, and battalion and company commanders for outstanding leadership leading to a combat victory. In November 2015 all recipient formations of the Ukrainian army were stripped of their Red Banner Order of Suvorov as part of an Armed Forces-wide removal of Soviet awards, the Order may be awarded posthumously. The Order of Suvorov is a 40mm wide gold plated cross pattée with silver rays protruding from the center outwards between the arms of the cross to form a square, the distance from the tip of the silver rays to the tip of the opposite rays is 35mm. The obverse center has a circular medallion bearing the gilded bust of Alexander Suvorov, in profile. Just below the bust of Suvorov, on the lower edge, crossed branches of oak. At the upper part of the medallion, following its circumference, the reverse is bare except for the award serial number. The Order is suspended by a ring through the suspension loop to a standard Russian pentagonal mount covered by a 24mm wide green silk moiré ribbon with a 5mm wide orange central stripe

8.
120th Guards Mechanised Brigade
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The 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade is a mechanised infantry brigade of the Belarus Ground Forces. It is the heir to the traditions of the Red Army 120th Guards Rifle Division which became the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division around 1957, the 120th Guards Rifle Division was formed by redesignation of the Red Armys 308th Rifle Division. The 308th Rifle Division was formed in accordance with Order Number 0044 of the Siberian Military District dated 21 March 1942. It was formed at Omsk in the Siberian Military District, using 20% Red Army men, 25% returning wounded veterans, 25% reservists from industry, most of the recruits and reservists came from the Omsk and Krasnoyarsk oblasts. When the division left for the west it had 12,133 officers, the division remained in the Siberian Military District until May 1942 until it was moved to the west. In late May, the division was assigned to the 8th Reserve Army in the Reserve of the Supreme High Command, on 1 June 1942, the division, still with the 8th Reserve Army, was at Saratov. From August 29 to September 6,1942, the division covered at least 300 kilometers on foot, on 1 August 1942 the 308th Rifle Division was part of the 24th Army in the area of Kotluban. The division joined the army on 29 August 1942 when it was assigned to the 24th Army on the Stalingrad Front. The first fight in the division took the 24th Army on the territory of the state farm Kotluban, the division had to seize the hamlet of Borodkin and Heights 133.4,143.8 and 154.2. Division troops backed 217th Tank Brigade,136 mortars, heavy artillery regiment in 1936, the enemy forces unleashed on the division powerful artillery fire, mortars, aircraft and tanks. By the end of September 1942 the division was assigned to the 62nd Army inside Stalingrad, in the fighting at Stalingrad the division arrived came on the night of October 2,1942, under Colonel Leontii Gurtev. Chuikovs 62nd Army, the division seized positions in the area of the Barricades plant, the division was finally pulled out of the city and the 62nd Army in December with only 500 men still assigned to the division. For its actions at Stalingrad September to December 1942 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by an order dated 19 June 1943, reassigned to the Volga Military District to be rebuilt, the division spent the next several months reconstituting its strength. By 1 March 1943, the division was shipped back to the front and assigned to the Kalinin Front reserves, the division went back to the front in the 3rd Army of the Bryansk Front in Operation Kutuzov. Distinguishing itself in combat, the division was awarded Guards status, during the remainder of 1943 the division participated in the Orel, Bryansk, and Gomel - Rechitsa operations. As the 308th Rifle Division, the unit had two commanders, Colonel Leontii Nikolaevich Gurtev took over the division on 1 March 1942, was promoted to Major General on 7 December 1942, and was killed in action at Pamanlovo on 3 August 1943. For his actions in taking that town, he became a Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously on 27 August 1943 and his successor as division commander was Colonel Nikolai Kuzmich Maslennikov, who took over officially on 4 August 1943 and was promoted to Major General on 22 September 1943. Maslennikov was commander until the 308th became the 120th Guards Rifle Division in September 1943 in accordance with NKO Order Number 285, the 120th Guards was frequently assigned to the 41st Rifle Corps, 3rd Army, during the war

9.
Gomel
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Gomel is the administrative centre of Gomel Voblast and with 526,872 inhabitants the second-most populous city of Belarus. There are at least six narratives of the origin of the city’s Belarusian name, one of the more plausible is that the name is derived from the name of the stream Homeyuk, which flowed into river Sozh near the foot of the hill where the first settlement was founded. Names of other Belarusian cities are formed along these lines, for example, the name Minsk is derived from the river Menka, Polatsk from the river Palata, and Vitsebsk from the river Vitsba. In historical sources from 1142 to the 16th century, the city is mentioned as Hom, Homye, Homiy, Homey and these forms are tentatively explained as derivatives of an unattested *gomŭ of uncertain meaning. The modern name for the city has been in use only since the 16th–17th centuries, during the Soviet period, another story about the citys name was popular, raftsmen on the river Sozh supposedly warned each other about the danger of running into sandy shallows by shouting «Ho. A more recent narrative, propagated by some researchers, is that the name is derived from an ancient Belarusian greeting, «Dats u homel». Gomel was founded at the end of the 1st millennium AD on the lands of the Eastern Slavic tribal union of Radimichs and it lays on the banks of the Sozh river and the Homeyuk stream. Sozhs high right bank, cut through by canyons, provided a natural fortification, for some time, Gomel was the capital of the Gomel Principality, before it became part of the Principality of Chernigov. Gomel is first mentioned in the Hypatian Codex under the year of 1142 as being territory of the princes of Chernigov, under Oleg, Gomel went to the Principality of Novhorod-Siverskyi. The next ruler was Igor Svyatoslavich – the hero of The Tale of Igors Campaign, during this period, the town was a fortified point and the centre of a volost. In the 12th–13th centuries the area was not less than 40 ha. Archeological data have shown that the city was damaged during the Mongol-Tatar assault in the first half of the 13th century. In 1335, the Gomel region was joined to the Great Duchy of Lithuania by Algirdas, during the Second Muscovite-Lithuanian War of 1500–1503 Lithuania tried to regain Gomel and other lands transferred to Moscow, but suffered defeat and lost one-third of its territory. In 1535, Lithuanian and Polish forces under Jerzy Radziwiłł, Jan Tarnowski and Andrzej Niemirowicz re-captured the city after the surrender of Moscows deputy, in the same year, the Great Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Kęstutaitis founded the Gomel Starostwo. According to the agreement of 1537, Gomel together with its volost remained a Lithuanian possession. In 1535–1565 Gomel is the centre of starostwo, and from 1565 onwards Gomel is in the Rechytsa Powiat of the Minsk Voivodeship, in 1560, the citys first coat of arms was introduced. In 1569, Gomel became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from this moment on, the city became the arena of numerous attacks and battles between Cossaks, Russia and the Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth. In 1572, Gomel Starostwo was given to B, at the beginning of the 1570s, Gomel was captured by the forces of Ivan the Terrible, but in 1576 it was re-captured by J. Radziwiłł

10.
Wittenberg
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Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Situated on the river Elbe, it has a population of about 50,000. Part of the Augustinian monastery in which Luther dwelt, first as a monk and later as owner with his wife, various Luther and Melanchthon memorial sites were added to the UNESCO world heritage list in 1996. Historical documents first mention the settlement in 1180 as a village founded by Flemish colonists under the rule of the House of Ascania. In 1260 this village became the residence of the dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg, Wittenberg developed into an important trade centre during the following several centuries, because of its central location. When the local branch of the Ascanians died out in 1422, several parts of boundaries of the town were extended soon afterward. The second bridge over the Elbe River was built from 1486 through 1490, the Electors palace was rebuilt at the same time. In 1760, during the Seven Years War, the Austrians bombarded the Prussian-occupied town, the French took control in 1806, and Napoleon commanded the refortification of the town in 1813. In 1814 the Prussian Army under Tauentzien stormed Wittenberg, he received the title of von Wittenberg as a reward, in 1815 Wittenberg became part of Prussia, administered within the Province of Saxony. Wittenberg continued to be a fortress of the class until the reorganisation of German defences after the foundation of the new German Empire led to its dismantling in 1873. Unlike many other historic German cities during World War II, Wittenbergs town centre was spared destruction during the conflict. In actuality, the Luther statue was not even present in the square during much of the war, but in storage at Luther Brunnen. Wittenbergs reputation as a town protected from Allied bombing is also not entirely historically accurate, on the outskirts of Wittenberg stood the Arado Flugzeugwerke, which produced components of airplanes for the Luftwaffe. This factory was staffed by Jews, Russians, Poles, political prisoners, despite the prisoner status of its workers, American and British planes bombed the factory near the end of the war, killing one thousand prisoner workers. The 1995 publication of. und morgen war Krieg. by Renate Gruber-Lieblich attempts to document this tragic bombing of Wittenberg, at the end of the war, Soviet forces occupied Wittenberg, it became part of East Germany in 1949. During the East German period, it formed part of Halle District, by means of the peaceful revolution in 1989, the communist régime dissolved and the town has been governed democratically since 1990. The figures are given for the district at the point in time. Up to 1791 the figures are estimated, later figures are from census or local authorities

11.
Operation Kutuzov
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Operation Kutuzov was a major offensive launched by the Red Army on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German Wehrmacht. The operation was named after General Mikhail Kutuzov, the Russian general credited with saving Russia from Napoleon during the French invasion of Russia in 1812, Operation Kutuzov was one of two large-scale Soviet operations launched as counteroffensives against Operation Citadel. The Operation began on 12 July and ended on 18 August 1943 with the capture of Orel, as the end of the rasputitsa or rainy season approached, the Soviet command considered their next steps. After this the Soviet forces would go over onto the offensive, Operation Kutusov was the offensive plan for the Soviet forces before Moscow facing the German forces of Army Group Center. It was carried out by three Soviet Fronts or army groups, the Western Front, the Bryansk Front and the Central Front, the Germans had spread their forces thin all across the front in an effort to provide as much men and material as possible for Operation Citadel. Holding the front before the Soviet offensive were the 2nd Panzer Army, the region had been held by German forces for nearly two years and despite Hitlers admonition not to build defensive works behind the front, some preparations had been made. A defensive line had started that was 5–7 kilometres in depth, consisting of minefields, interconnected trench works. Wherever possible, the Germans took advantage of features such as streams, ravines and gullies. The Soviet high command planned two offensives as part of a general offensive throughout the eastern front. Operation Kutuzov was the offensive, with its objective being to collapse the Orel salient, cut behind the 9th Army engaged in offensive operations at Kursk, encircle. In doing so they hoped to cause a collapse of the German forces in the Soviet Union. The attack was to once the German panzer units engaged in Operation Citadel were locked into combat. German intelligence had revealed the Soviet forces massing opposite the 2nd Panzer Army, the Soviet armies earmarked for the operation had amassed a force of 1,286,000 men and 2,400 tanks. These were supported by 26,400 guns and 3,000 aircraft, the Soviet offensive was aided by partisan attacks behind the German lines. Approximately 100,000 Soviet partisans were working to disrupt German efforts to supply, German movements of ammunition and reinforcements were hampered throughout the operation by attacks on German communications and supply routes, especially railway lines. The partisans operated under the guidance of the Red Army, on 12 July, a heavy artillery barrage marked the launching of the offensive. The armies of the Bryansk Front and the Western Front attacked along the north, the Western Front assault was led by the 11th Guards Army under Lieutenant General Hovhannes Bagramyan, supported by the 1st and 5th Tank Corps. The Russians attacked with overwhelming numbers, along one 16-kilometre attack sector near Ulianovo, six Soviet rifle divisions attacked two German infantry regiments

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Sozh River
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Sozh is an international river flowing in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. It is a left tributary of the Dnieper River. Sozh passes through Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus, the river is crossed by the Sozh Floating Bridge at Korma and an elegant steel arch at Gomel, which is featured on a national stamp of 300 ruble value. The original name was Sozh, from Old East Slavic Съжь, the Sozh River rises in Russia and is mostly snow fed. The river freezes over between November and early January, the ice thaws from late March or April. Pronia, on the right, and the Oster, Besed’ and it is one of the six tributaries longer than 500 km which join the Dnieper River – the third longest river in Europe. The river is provided with locks in its upper reaches where it is navigable from Krichev. Timber is floated along the river, the mouth of the river is very broad and swampy. The catchment area of the river is 42,140 square kilometres along its 648 kilometres length,21,700 square kilometres and 493 kilometres within Belarus, the mean discharge recorded at Gomel,100 kilometres upstream from the mouth, is 207 m3/s. Important historical towns on the banks of river and its tributaries are, Krichev, Cherikov, Slavgorod, Gomel. Many of the cities and towns located in the valley are part of the rivers history of events. Several centuries ago, Radimichi tribal people lived in the Sozh River basin and they were involved in agricultural practices, rearing cattle, fishing and honey collection. They were craftsmen, and they were good tradesman as the river provided navigation to the northwestern and southeastern parts of Europe, Gomel, a river port and a railhead, is also known as Homyel or Homiel. It is situated to the southeast of Belarus, and is the capital of the Homyel Oblast and it is located on the western bank of the Sozh River, about 300 km from Minsk, and close to the border with Russia and Ukraine. The earliest reported occupation of the town was in 1142, under Kievan Rus and this was followed by Lithuanian control in 1537, then Polish under the Treaty of Andrusov, and later under Russia in 1772. Embankments were built on the banks of the Sozh River, as a result, a unique nature-architecture ensemble grew on the high picturesque bank of the Sozh River right in the historical center of Gomel. These monuments are credited to the Rumyantsevs and the Paskeviches who were statesmen, the town is now an important industrial center with a population of about half million. Located in the region of the Chernobyl disaster, Gomel and its surrounding area suffers from subsisting levels of radiation

German and Soviet deployments on the Eastern Front, June to August 1944, showing Operation Bagration to the north, Lviv-Sandomierz to the south. The encirclement of the German XIII Army Corps at Brody is shown in Konev's First Ukrainian command.